Faculty Roundtable: Waymaker Introduction to Psychology

“…I’ve had students say, ‘I wish all of my classes were like this!’ and how easy and affordable it is…”

Julie Lazzara, Professor of Psychology, Maricopa Community College

Lumen’s Faculty Roundtable sessions bring faculty together who have already adopted Lumen-supported OER courses with those who are exploring this path. For our Roundtable discussion on October 23th, 2017, we had the opportunity to speak with Katherine Cameron of Coppin State University and Julie Lazzara of Maricopa Community College, both Professors of Psychology and champions of the OER movement for Psychology courses. You may:

View Roundtable Recording

Download Slides

Highlights and Key Takeaways

See the Q&A below for key takeaways from Katherine and Julie’s roundtable conversation:

Q. What are some of the issues you were wanting to address when deciding to adopt OER resources?

For many institutions, access and affordability remain prevalent issues for students. By addressing problems such as high textbook costs and saving students money, students are more readily able to engage in the learning process.

Q. What are your favorite aspects about the Waymaker courseware?

Lumen’s Waymaker courses foster great student learning through clear learning objectives and “try-it” sections, pre-tests and post-tests before and after each learning goal, and short, engaging content with embedded videos and audio. The email communication tools allow for positive student/instructor interactions, and all grades are stored directly in the the LMS gradebook. Moreover, courses are seamless and easy to deploy. They are also customizable to fit specific needs.

Q. How does this compare to other materials that you’ve used in the past?

Waymaker brings in the engagement piece that many faculty members are seeking when looking to redesign their courses. It provides all of the materials students need from the beginning, with interactive content that’s fully integrated into the LMS with no technical issues. With other publishers, technical issues were a regular problem, content was not fully integrated, and students needed to a lot of instruction on how to use the system.

Q. What advice do you have for faculty members who are considering adopting Lumen-supported courses such as Waymaker?

For faculty who are considering Lumen-supported courses such as Waymaker, getting the word out and having others understand what it is and how it works can help further adoption. It’s best to just jump in and see how it goes. You really don’t have much to lose because of the low cost and, for the price, you get a wide range of resources available to both the instructor and the student.